Backless brassiere



Feb. 28,1967 5. PARAMORE BACKLESS BRASSIERE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 4-, 1965 m m m a l N f P. B

IN VENTOR.

Feb. 28, 1967 B. l. PARAMORE 3,306,299

BACKLESS BRASSIERE Filed June 4, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Bel/y Paramore INVENTOR.

BY WW H Alumna United States Patent ()fitice 3,306,299 Patented Feb. 28, 1967 3,306,299 BACKLESS BRASSIERE Betty I. Paramore, 2514 Park ()ak Drive, Los Angeles, Calif. 90028 Filed June 4, 1965. Ser. No. 461,360 6 Claims. (Cl. 128--505) The present invention generally relates to an article of wearing apparel and basically involves a brassiere con struction that does not have any back or side structure.

An object of the present invention is to provide a backless brassiere that may be most advantageously used as a lingerie item for backless dresses but it can also be incorporated into a two-piece bathing suit.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a backless brassiere that is so constructed that the front portion will be supported snugly in place in supporting and covering relation to the breasts by the use of only a band around the neck. This leaves the back and sides of the wearer uncovered so that the brassiere may be effectively employed in combination with so-called backless dresses. Also, when this construction is incorporated into a two-piece bathing suit, this enables the wearer to have sun impinge the surface of the back as well as the sides of the wearer without the necessity of removing conventional straps such as normally encircle around the back of a wearer.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a backless brassiere supported by a flexible strap which extends upwardly and passes behind the neck together with a novel structure disposed interiorly of the cup area for adhering directly to the skin surface thus assuring that the brassiere will stay in place and perform its function while the wearer performs normal duties and enables various activities to be undertaken such as swimming, playing beach games and the like.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a brassiere which is simple in construction, easy to apply, effective for its particular purpose and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the ac companying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of the backless brassiere of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a front view of the brassiere with portions thereof broken away;

FIGURE 3 is a rear view of the brassiere;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 44 of FIGURE 3 illustrating the structure details of the brassiere;

FIGURE 5 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 55 of FIGURE 2 illustrating the reinforcing materials incorporated into the brassiere;

FIGURE 6' is a perspective view illustrating the manner in which the backless brassiere of the present invention is worn; and

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view similar to FIGURE 4 but illustrating an alternative construction.

The brassiere of the present invention is generally designated by the numeral 10 and includes two flexibly interconnected cups 12 and 14 for supportingly embracing the breasts of a wearer 16 in the usual manner. In this construction, there are no hands or straps which encircle the shoulders or back of the wearer 16 but there is an elongated flexible strap 18 which extends upwardly and around behind the neck 20 of the wearer 16 as illustrated in FIGURE 6. There are actually two straps 18 of similar construction which are attached to the outer edge of the cups 12 and 14 as at point 22 and the two straps extend around behind the neck in overlapping relation and the free ends thereof extend downwardly and inwardly along the outer edge of each cup 12 and 14 and then extend inwardly toward each other and are secured together by a suitable knot 24 or other suitable means. The straps 18 are retained in position along the outer edge and under the bottom inner edge of the cups 12 and 14 by loops 26 which are secured to the exterior surface of the cups 12 and 14 in the manner illustrated specifically in FIGURES 1 and 2, so that the straps 18 when properly assembled and tied will form a support for the cups 12 and 14.

Each cup 12 and 14 is provided with an outer fabric member 28 and an inner fabric member 30 both of which may be hemmed and stitched together at the top edge thereof as at 32. The outer member 28 is actually constructed of two pieces with the lower portion 34 being secured to the upper portion along a line of stitching 36 in accordance with well known brassiere construction. The particular materials from which the cups are constructed is variable in that any material normally used in brassiere construction may be employed. The fabric members 28 and 30 extend between the cups 12 and 14 and form a flexible connecting portion 38 which is separated from the cups 12 and 14 by curved lines of stitching 40. The stitching 40 extends completely around the bottom periphery of the cups 12 and 14 and forms a peripheral hem for receiving a reinforcing wire, rod or bone 42. Also, a reinforcing rod or bone 44 is disposed vertically centrally in the connecting portion 38 and is retained in place by stitching 46. Extending across the bottom of the reinforcing bone or rod 44 is a horizontally reinforcing bar or bone 48 also secured in place by suitable stitching.

As illustrated in FIGURE 4, the reinforcing rod 42 is retained in place by stitching 40 which also serves to secure the lower end of the loops 26 in place and stitching 50 also secures the upper ends or inner ends of the loops 26 to the cups and serves to secure the inner and outer fabric members 28 and 30 together.

Attached to the interior of each cup is a laminated flexible panel 52 constructed of glue impregnated moleskin which is attached to the cup along the bottom and side edges thereof and which has a top edge 54 extending generally diagonally from the upper outer corner of each cup downwardly toward the inner lower corner thereof. The upper edge of the moleskin panel 52 may be left free for enabling insertion of pads or the like for increasing the size characteristics of the breasts. If the top edge of the moleskin panel 52 is secured to the cup, then snap fastener elements 56 are provided along the bottom edge of and around the sides of the cup and corresponding snap fastener elements are mounted on the liner 52, see FIG. 7, for detachably connecting the lower edges of panels 36 and 52 thereby enabling the insertion of conventional size increasing resilient pads of foam material or the like. Thus, a slot is provided which enables the wearer to size increasing pads interiorly from either the top or the bottom of the moleskin panel 52 whichever method is most desirable for manufacturing.

For retaining the brassiere in place, a plurality of annular resilient ribs 58 are provided in the liner 52 of glue impregnated moleskin. The annular ribs 58 are corn plaster type foam rubber elements with a glue backing for lamination with the moleskin panel thus retaining the brassiere in place without necessitating the contact of the skin with glue. The use of corn plaster type elements is optional, since other suction cup like devices may be employed in lieu thereof.

The wire reinforcement members may be any suitable configuration and shape depending upon the size and design characteristics of the brassiere. The foam rubber circular elements provide sufi'icient grip in conjunction with the strap placement for the brassiere to work eflectively on a woman having average to large sized breasts. However, these devices may be peeled easily for Washing and for the purposes of presenting the adhesive surface of the moleskin directly to the skin of the wearer which is desirable for active women and for those having smaller sized breasts.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A backless brassiere comprising a pair of flexibly interconnected shape sustaining cup-shaped members, means on the interior surface of each cup-shaped member for adhering engagement with the skin surface of a breast of a wearer, and flexible straps connected to the outer upper extremities of the cup-shaped members for encircling around the neck of the wearer forwardly of the shoulders, said straps having end portions extending downwardly along the outer edge of the cup-shaped members and under the cup-shaped members, the outer peripheral edge and the lower peripheral edge of each of said cup-shaped members being provided with loops for receiving the free end portion of the flexible straps which are terminally connected to the upper outer corner of the oppositely disposed cup-shaped member for guidingly retaining the straps so that the free ends of the straps may be adjustably secured together at a point between and below the flexibly interconnected cup-shaped members.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said cup-shaped members is provided with a liner of moleskin forming said means for adherence to the skin surface of the breast.

3. The structure as defined in claim 2 together with a plurality of annular resilient foam members on the inner surface of the moleskin liner for enhancing the adherence thereof to the skin surface, said moleskin liner being glue impregnated.

4. The structure as defined in claim 3 wherein the upper edge of the moleskin liner is independent of the cup-shaped member thereby enabling insertion of pads for changing the shapes and characteristics of the brassiere when worn.

5. The structure as defined in claim 3 wherein said moleskin liner has the upper edge thereof permanently connected to the cup-shaped member, and releasable fastener elements inter-connecting the lower peripheral portions of the moleskin liner and cup-shaped member thereby enabling insertion of size increasing pads under the liner for changing the size characteristics of the brassiere when worn.

6. The structure as defined in claim 3 wherein the bottom peripheral surfaces of the cup-shaped members is reinforced and the portion of the brassiere between the cup-shaped members is provided with reinforcing members thereby retaining the shape of the brassiere.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 856,914 6/1907 Runyon 128-481 2,015,151 9/1935 Moity 128489 3,216,425 11/1965 De Keersmaicker 128-425 3,244,175 4/1966 Sturg-es 128-5l1 3,254,653 6/1966 Krieger 128-505 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner. 

1. A BACKLESS BRASSIERE COMPRISING A PAIR OF FLEXIBLY INTERCONNECTED SHAPE SUSTAINING CUP-SHAPED MEMBERS, MEANS ON THE INTERIOR SURFACE OF EACH CUP-SHAPED MEMBER FOR ADHERING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE SKIN SURFACE OF A BREAST OF A WEARER, AND FLEXIBLE STRAPS CONNECTED TO THE OUTER UPPER EXTREMITIES OF THE CUP-SHAPED MEMBERS FOR ENCIRCLING AROUND THE NECK OF THE WEARER FORWARDLY OF THE SHOULDERS, SAID STRAPS HAVING END PORTIONS EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY ALONG THE OUTER EDGE OF THE CUP-SHAPED MEMBERS AND UNDER THE CUP-SHAPED MEMBERS, THE OUTER PERIPHERAL EDGE AND THE LOWER PERIPHERAL EDGE OF EACH OF SAID CUP-SHAPED MEMBERS BEING PROVIDED WITH LOOPS FOR RECEIVING THE FREE END PORTION OF THE FLEXIBLE STRAPS WHICH ARE TERMINALLY CONNECTED TO THE UPPER OUTER CORNER OF THE OPPOSITELY DISPOSED CUP-SHAPED MEMBER FOR GUIDINGLY RETAINING THE STRAPS SO THAT THE FREE ENDS OF THE STRAPS MAY BE ADJUSTABLY SECURED TOGETHER AT A POINT BETWEEN AND BELOW THE FLEXIBLY INTERCONNECTED CUP-SHAPED MEMBERS. 